Saturday, August 2, 2008

Breaking Dawn and Grandpa's Birthday!

(This is a back entry, so although it is dated correctly, I am speaking of it as though it were in the past... because as I write in October, it is!)

First go back and read my entry entitled Obsession for background on my absolute obsession with Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series.

When I wrote that entry, there were three books in the series with a fourth due out August 2nd. I can't remember if I mentioned in that entry, but I got Mary to read the series and the two of us are, to put it mildly, "Total Twihards" now! Honestly, that book series brought Mary and I together in a way that nothing else had. We got really close because of it and for that I am so grateful!

Well, Mary and I had been anticipating the release of Breaking Dawn (the fourth and final book in the series) for a LONG time. We were counting down the days. I even went so far as to take the night off from work so that she and I could go to one of the many midnight release parties being held in honor of the book release. We're both in our mid thirties... and neither of us has ever done anything like this. We honestly felt like teenagers again (and is that a bad thing?)

When August 1st arrived, we were like giddy little kids on Christmas. Mary came over early. That evening, we got ourselves ready and even went and got cheap shirts to make (the third book came with iron-ons in them). The problem was that I couldn't find my iron! (Embarrassingly, that tells you how long it has been since I've actually USED an iron.) But Mary saved the day... she happened to have her flat iron with her (yes, a flat iron for HAIR!). It was a tricky venture, but she made it work and we finally had our "Team Edward" shirts! (Edward is one of the main characters of the story.) Off we went...

Mike was kind enough to oblige us by keeping the kids so that we could have an uninterrupted girls night out! (A much needed night, I might add!) We had dinner at Red Robin and then later we went to Borders in the mall here in Federal Way. I think we were the oldest people there... Hahahahaha. We did see a couple of people older than us, but not many. It's okay. We had fun. There were games and costume contests and trivia contests. We won a few little knick knacks. But overall, we just wanted our books, which were being released at midnight. When midnight finally arrived, we stood in a very long line but I think we still got out of the store by 12:30am. We ran out to the car, jumped in, and headed to Safeway for a few snacks. Then we drove out to Tukwila, where Mike had secured a hotel room for us for the night. (Yes, I married the greatest man on the planet!!!) It was a night of pure, uninterrupted, girlfriend BLISS!!!

We had a readathon until we couldn't read anymore. We drifted off at some crazy hour and then ran down, got breakfast and brought it back to our room and continued to read. (The final book is well over 700 pages!) Finally, we had to check out. After checking out, we drove out to Sumner and walked around at a summer festival they were having. Then we met up with the family back in Tukwila.

We all met at The Claim Jumper to celebrate grandpa's birthday! I wish I had taken pictures of the day, but I just didn't. Oh well. Mary and I said our goodbyes after dinner and I went home and had another personal readathon. Mike even slept in the kids' room so I could have our bedroom to myself in peace. I finally finished the book around noon the following day! It was a wonderful book and it was so nice to get lost in the series!!!

Mary and I can't wait for the movie release, which is happening November 21st! Next stop... a book signing by the author on August 12th!!